IN THIS GUIDE · Aligning a university instructor's course-design work and teaching term with the period of authorized TN employment
Start with the TN eligibility and application overview
Write down the whole engagement before anything else
Ask the department for the actual sequence: when syllabus and materials development begins, whether that phase is separately compensated, where it is expected to be performed, and when classroom teaching starts and ends. Departments often describe the appointment only by the term dates, because that is how the academic calendar works. The employment relationship usually starts earlier, and the TN record should reflect the engagement the parties actually intend.
Put both phases in the employer's support letter
A support letter that names only the teaching term leaves an officer with no explanation for work performed weeks earlier. Ask the department to describe the appointment as one professional engagement with a development phase and an instructional phase, stating the duties in each and the dates each covers. This is a documentation fix, not a change to the underlying job, and it is easier to make before the letter is finalized.
Understand what the authorized period covers
Check the document that actually establishes status and employment authorization for the chosen route. A petition approval alone does not always confer status or authorize a person abroad to start US work; admission may still be required. An approved change or extension of status has different effects. Confirm the applicable I-94, status, employer and start date with counsel before performing the development phase in the United States. Make a separate date table for the prospective start, anticipated admission or approved petition, and the I-94 expiration. The practical choice is whether the employer needs the petition route because the work cannot await the employee's next border application, or whether travel-based processing matches the timing. The table should not disguise a gap: it identifies the earliest day actual U.S. services may begin. Keep an updated copy of the support letter and the issued I-94 with the file; those records answer different questions.
Ask counsel about anything performed before entry
If the instructor expects to draft materials from Canada before moving, treat that as a question for counsel rather than an assumption in either direction. The analysis turns on where the work is performed, who is paying, and how the appointment is structured, and it can differ from one arrangement to the next. Raise it early, because the answer may change the dates the department should request or the way the letter is written.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.